The present invention generally relates to a support tool for configuring a system which supports business processes, and specifically to an application cooperation tool for supporting to realize configuration/reconfiguration of a system which supports business processes, through cooperation/integration of newly developed independent business applications in the form suitable for business processes.
More specifically, the invention relates to an application cooperation tool capable of quickly and easily realizing selection of business applications to be used and cooperation/integration of the business applications, for the following cases (1) to (4).
(1) Configuration of a system which supports to realize a virtual call center, an electronic commerce, a virtual project team, a virtual enterprise, and the like, by using networks such as the Internet, an intranet, and a public switching telecommunication network.
(2) Reconfiguration of a support system for business processes changed because of a business environment change.
(3) Configuration of an information system integrating already present information processing system environments such as public switching telecommunication networks and mainframes, with latest information system environments such as computer telephony integration (CTI).
(4) Conversion of a conventional section-independent information system into a section-interlinking information system.
Various system development/configuration support tools are now used in order to support configuration/reconfiguration of a business process support system.
For example, technology for configuration/reconfiguration of a business process support system has been proposed in which a function of realizing each business process is changed into a software component by using object oriented technology, and these software components are combined, cooperated/integrated in accordance with business processes to be configured (refer to Nikkei Computer, April, 1997, pp. 126 to 136 and Nikkei Byte, August 1996, pp. 204 to 221).
Another technology for configuration/reconfiguration of a business process support system has also been proposed in which, for example, a model representing a business process flow called a workflow is defined, and business applications realizing respective process logics are cooperated/integrated in accordance with the definitions (refer to Workgroup Computing Report, Vol. 19, No. 7, 1996, pp. 3 to 19).
The above-described conventional technologies provide only the platform for cooperating a plurality of software components (business applications) constituting a business process support system. Namely, a software component suitable for each process logic constituting a business process to be incorporated is selected from a group of software components formed based upon various information technologies and tools, and each selected software component is related to a corresponding process logic to thereby configure a business process support system. These works are dependent upon abilities of developers.
With the above-described technologies, therefore, knowledge and experiences of configuration/reconfiguration realizing means such as various types of new and old information technologies/application tools are required when a business process support system is to be configured/reconfigured. It is therefore difficult to effectively select a software component suitable for a business process and make the software component be related to a corresponding process logic. A load on system implementation cannot therefore be supported sufficiently.